Apple Mac mini (2018)

Meet the 2018 Mac Mini

With a move to 8th Generation Core desktop CPUs, PCI Express SSDs, and a whole new roster of connectivity, the Mac mini remains a compelling space-saver for macOS users looking for a ready-to-go home-theater PC, desktop workstation, or music- and video-editing sprinter.

Green Aluminum?

The chassis is matte metal, made up of aluminum that, according to Apple, is 100 percent recycled, in part from the chassis-manufacture remnants of other Macs.

Mini Minimal

The only feature on the front or sides is a power-on LED on the front face, with a chromed Apple logo up top. The feel of the all-aluminum chassis is stolid and inflexible, the same rigid-enough-to-support-an-elephant build as ever.

The Underside

Turn the Mac mini over to view the underside, and you'll see a plastic disk of a base that elevates the metal of the chassis from the desk surface. Rotating the disk does nothing; prying it up with a thin tool, though, pops it off. Underneath is a perforated panel that goes to the internals, of which, according to the company, the only serviceable element is the RAM.

Air Around the Ring

Around the perimeter of the plastic disc is a gap that allows for free airflow in and out of the chassis.

Complementary Input

Opting for Bluetooth-interface peripherals would keep two USB ports clear. Depending on your work style and what you do, you might opt for Apple's complementary Magic Keyboard With Numeric Keypad ($149) and Force Touch-enabled Magic Trackpad 2 ($149), which both connect wirelessly via Bluetooth and match the design.

Multi-Monitor Moxie

The mix of ports around back allows for a wide variety of multi-display possibilities. You can always use the HDMI for a monitor up to 4K native resolution, alongside one or two of the Thunderbolt 3 ports; you can connect one panel at up to a 60Hz refresh rate on the HDMI, and either one 5K display on a Thunderbolt or two up-to-4K panels on two of the Thunderbolts.

The Full Back Panel

Below the four Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports you can see the rear exhaust. To its right is the headphone jack, not accompanied by a line or mic in.

In Sum, Still a Winner

Apart from the too-modest dollop of storage, the 2018 mini delivers enough speed, flexibility, and connectivity to satisfy a wide swath of possible Mac shoppers. Only those needing the sheer muscle of a many-core solution will need to look higher up the stack of Mac.

About Our Expert

John Burek

Executive Editor and PC Labs Director

My Experience

I have been a technology journalist for almost 30 years and have covered just about every kind of computer gear—from the 386SX to 64-core processors—in my long tenure as an editor, a writer, and an advice columnist. For almost a quarter-century, I worked on the seminal, gigantic Computer Shopper magazine (and later, its digital counterpart), aka the phone book for PC buyers, and the nemesis of every postal delivery person. I was Computer Shopper's editor in chief for its final nine years, after which much of its digital content was folded into PCMag.com. I also served, briefly, as the editor in chief of the well-known hard-core tech site Tom's Hardware.

During that time, I've built and torn down enough desktop PCs to equip a city block's worth of internet cafes. Under race conditions, I've built PCs from bare-board to bootup in under 5 minutes. I never met a screwdriver I didn't like.

I was also a copy chief and a fact checker early in my career. (Editing and polishing technical content to make it palatable for consumer audiences is my forte.) I also worked as an editor of scholarly science books, and as an editor of "Dummies"-style computer guidebooks for Brady Books (now, BradyGames). I'm a lifetime New Yorker, a graduate of New York University's journalism program, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

The Technology I Use

I use a lot of computers on rotation in my daily work, but I rely on just a few to get things done. I split my work life mostly between a Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 (a 15-inch Ryzen model), paired with a Lenovo ThinkVision portable monitor, and a custom-built big-chassis Windows 10 desktop PC that has served me well for years now. (Specs: Liquid-cooled Intel Core i7-6950X Extreme Edition, 32GB of RAM, and a GeForce GTX 1080 card.) That's all in a giant chassis with six hard drives and SSDs packing its bays. (As I upgrade systems, I just keep moving the old warhorse drives over.) This behemoth is hooked up to a 32-inch LG monitor.

I also have a bunch of PCs around the house, all custom builds: another one attached to my main TV (for gaming and occasional forays into VR), a mini-PC on the bedroom TV (acting as a media server), and a Mini-ITX desktop in a corner of the living room...just because. I carry around an oversize OnePlus phone, but when I do long-haul travel, a vintage iPod Touch comes along, too, for old times' sake.

I wasn't always a PC guy. I cut my teeth on a cassette-drive-equipped Commodore VIC-20 in the 1980s. But I got serious with Apple desktops in the early 1990s, starting with a Macintosh SE, then a Macintosh LC, and finally one of the short-lived Umax "clone" Macs, before building my first PC and never looking back.

With all my typing and editing work over the years, I've become a huge proponent of thumb trackballs, which minimize wrist action (and my wrist pain). I have a secret cache of the long-discontinued Microsoft Trackball Optical Mouse (my personal favorite), held in an undisclosed location.

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